No Progress at Trade Talks

By TOM WRIGHT

Published: October 20, 2005

Negotiations for a global trade accord ended without progress on Wednesday, with the United States saying the European Union had failed to match its offer to cut agricultural support.

The United States trade representative, Rob Portman, said it was increasingly unlikely that a deal would be reached at a crucial World Trade Organization meeting in December.

''Given the short time before the Hong Kong ministerial, the E.U.'s lack of urgency is very concerning,'' Mr. Portman said. ''They, like the U.S., have a responsibility to help move the talks forward with a strong, ambitious proposal. We've done our part, and the U.S. will continue pushing for the E.U. to do theirs.''

The United States broke an impasse in the talks, which began in Doha, Qatar, in 2001, with an offer last week to cut its farm subsidies by 60 percent and import duties on agricultural products by 55 to 90 percent. The United States asked the European Union to respond by opening its markets by the same degree to America's farm products.

But negotiators said that the European Union trade commissioner, Peter Mandelson, who this week drew criticism from France for going too far in the talks, made no new offer on tariff cuts on Wednesday. A proposal from Brussels is expected at the end of next week.

Representatives from the United States, Europe, India, Brazil and Australia were originally scheduled to convene again Thursday but decided to conclude the meeting early.

Developing nations led by Brazil are demanding Western countries give up the tens of billions of dollars they spend each year to support farmers. This system, these nations say, encourages overproduction, and pushes down global commodity prices.

A group of Western African nations threatened Wednesday to block a deal unless the United States makes concrete strides to cut cotton subsidies, which the W.T.O. has already ruled illegal. African protests on cotton were a factor in the failure of the W.T.O.'s last major gathering in Canc?Mexico, two years ago.

Mr. Mandelson this week urged European nations to support a new trade agreement. Further lowering barriers to trade, he said, could be worth an extra $100 billion to the global economy each year.